


Silver Chains and Golden Cages

by lasympathetique



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Hostage Situation, Kidnapped, Lots of glittery things, Monarch - Freeform, Royalty, the big four
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-17 07:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5860642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasympathetique/pseuds/lasympathetique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rapunzel, Jack Frost, Merida, and Hiccup are all kidnapped by the same mysterious man known only as the Master. He keeps them in an extravagant castle where life is pampered and privileged, but on his terms. With no free will and an uneasy mystery to the situation, the four must work together to figure out why the Master plucked them from their lives, who he is, and how they can break free of his seemingly iron rule. </p><p>Based off that FREAKING STELLAR picture of the Big Four dressed as royalty and lounging done by tumblr user yukim116. Their work is ASTOUNDING, please I urge you to check them out!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I have a hectic lifestyle and another fic to finish, so this might not be updated for a bit. If you want more, please let me know! Thanks for reading!

Rapunzel swayed dreamily down the ornate hallway of the castle, stocking feet gently crushing into the silk soft carpet. Clad in her favourite gown, a pale pink that swished around her knees and held trim to her slender waist, she hummed and let her bare fingers trace against the smooth palace walls. It was lovely living in such luxury, but Rapunzel couldn’t shake the feeling of a bird living in a cage. Albeit a very large, gold and silver encrusted cage, but a cage none the less. Letting her impossibly long yellow hair trail behind her with abandon, Rapunzel paused at an exceptionally large portrait of a young man. She smiled. With his brown hair all coiffed and tucked beneath the heavy crown, Hiccup looked a different person.

“What a stiff.”

Rapunzel jumped. She turned around very quickly, and took a breath when she saw that it was only Jack.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she chastised him, but Jack ignored her. With silver hair perpetually ruffled and an impish demeanour, there was certainly a roguish attractiveness to the boy. He was dressed in a white blouse tucked into pale blue shorts with gold buttons, barefooted. Jack looked at the portrait with boredom, icy blue eyes thoroughly unimpressed.

“Least they could’ve done is hide his leg, look at it. Didn’t even give him a boot.”

“Why should he have to hide it?” Rapunzel asked severely, dropping the former complaint. “It’s apart of him, as much as my hair is apart of me, or your ice is apart of you.”

“Big difference. My ice is cool.”

“That’s not funny, Jack. You know he’s sensitive about it.”

“Yeah, well.” Jack pouted, then turned down the hallway as though seized by thought. Rapunzel hurried alongside him.

“You’re in a foul mood today,” she commented as the hallway ended and they found themselves in the main foyer. The concave ceiling was a rich scarlet with gold trimming, far higher than any human would need. The walls were scarlet too, decorated with various silk screenings and oil paintings of noblemen, scholars, philosophers, adventurers. And the children. So many of the children. Rapunzel stiffened as she passed her own image several times, impassioned face framed by carefully combed hair, encased in corsets and gowns that her ribcage had no fond memories of. In every image her eyes looked dead. The glassy green gaze of a China doll. Each portrait represented several endless hours of sitting on a crush velvet throne, limbs growing stiff and mind numbing over as she waited for the artist to be done.

Jack noted the portraits too and casually flicking one of his own, life sized, armed with a sceptre and scowling.

“Don’t tell me you’re any different,” he grumbled. “You’re miserable here too.”

Rapunzel sighed. “We all are.”

“At least I’m not being a big baby about it. All he does is whine and complain about how much he misses his stupid dragon. What a pet! At least get something normal, a cat or a pigeon or something.”

“You’re a fine one to complain about being normal. And it’s different for him. Where he’s from, dragons are as normal as horses. You ride them, train them.”

“Fine, whatever, as long as they’re nowhere near me. The things fly and breath fire. I couldn’t ask for a better nightmare.”

Rapunzel smiled. The exasperation in Jack’s voice was so amusing, she couldn’t help it. There was precious little to be amused by in this place. Even though her old tower was far smaller, Rapunzel missed the colourful paintings, the books, the kitchen.

Here, every task was finished for you. Baths drawn, food served, clothes laid out according to the day of the week. Sunday's were full of endlessly extravagant silk and lace; Wednesday's were more casual. Only Merida was accustomed to the perpetual pampering, and she assured the others that it was just as annoying here as it was back in Scotland. Often Rapunzel found herself with pent up energy, used to doing her own chores as well as cleaning up after her mother. Most days she paced down the endless halls, as she had been before Jack surprised her, desperate to expend the jitters.

“Weren’t you supposed to see the Master today?” Rapunzel dropped her voice.

Jack’s expression dropped and he glanced over his shoulder. “No, not yet. Merida said he might see me later. Another fitting. I think I’m getting a cape.” He smirked, the humour missing from his eyes.

“Do you think you could- I mean- ”

“No.” Jack interrupted with a sharp look. “If you’re so curious, you ask.”

“But don’t you want to know why?” Rapunzel raised her voice. “Why us? What’s going to happen? Why did he bring us here?” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you want to go home?”

“Of course!” Jack hissed, seizing Rapunzel’s arm. “Of course I want to leave! I miss my friends, I miss the snow. I hate it here!” With a little cough, Jack stifled his anger. “But I can’t say that. Not to him, anyways. You remember what happened to Merida. I won’t go through that. I can’t be locked up. I’ll go crazy.”

“But Merida tried to escape, she didn’t-”

“She defied him! He doesn’t care about the actions, it’s all about intent. He wants us under his thumb.”

Rapunzel let her gaze wander down the grand staircase. She leaned over the silver railing, elevating herself so her heels dangled. “You’re exaggerating. He’s not that bad. He’s just…protective.”

Jack leaned next to her, staring at her. “You’re kidding, right? Rapunzel, he’s a kidnapper.”

“Maybe he had a good reason,” Rapunzel said softly, not really believing herself.

“You’re just used to living in a cage.”

The remark stung, but Rapunzel brushed it off. It wouldn’t do any good to start fighting now, not with Jack. Not if he had to be fitted today. Any moments spent with the master of the castle were unsettling, leaving you shaky and lightheaded for no discernible reason. Rapunzel was unable to put her finger on it, but something in the Master’s presence sent chills down her spine.

“I wish I had my staff,” Jack mumbled. “Then I’d show him who’s boss.”

“I thought you were scared of him.”

“As if! I’m not scared, I’m just not stupid enough to pick a fight I can’t win.”

Fair enough, thought Rapunzel. She was not brave enough to confront the Master either. A strange tall man with fine features and slender limbs, he was not physically imposing. But there was a quiet storm behind those grey eyes of his, and in his charming smile was a hint of wolffish hunger. He reminded Rapunzel of a snake, quiet and smooth. His voice was calm and detached; she had never heard him raise his voice in anger, not even at Jack.

And still, she felt it hard to disobey his commands. Even physically nauseous if she tried to.

  
_It had been about five weeks to the day since the Master brought her to the castle. Rapunzel still remembered the day vividly, like a bad dream. She had finished her chores early and was dozing by the open window. The summer breeze was lovely, and she could smell the lavender growing at the base of the tower. Mother Gothel was away at the market. Rapunzel’s eyes slid closed as she daydreamed about the crisp apples Mother promised to return with. Sweet and crunchy, she could nearly taste them on her tongue. Pascal snoozed next to her._

_The sound of wings beating in the distance intruded her daydreaming. But before her eyes were fully open, the world went black and Rapunzel was whirled away by some mysterious force. She couldn’t see anything, but it seemed as though blackness was clinging all around her, tossing and turning as she seemingly dropped through nothingness. The whole experience was so jarring and horribly unexpected that Rapunzel forgot to scream, even to think. It was seconds later that the blackness peeled away and she was barefoot, sitting on the floor of her new, richly furnished bedroom._

  
Jack lifted himself up onto the stair railing, teetering along like a gymnast with both arms spread. Rapunzel would have a heart attack if she did not know the boy could fly. Light as a bird, Jack swayed forward and cartwheeled along the silver railing. His movements were so delicate and graceful that Rapunzel was reminded of a ballerina. Halting mid-cartwheel, Jack gripped the rails with both hands and allowed his slight body to carry him over. Releasing the rails, Jack plummeted through the air. Like a cat, he landed on all fours without so much as a thump and brushed himself off.

Quickly, Rapunzel ran down the stairs to meet him. He watched her hurried pace with a smirk.

“Slowpoke.”

“You’re a literal human snowflake, don’t expect me to compete with that.”

“No, you just have a head full of magic hair.” Jack gestured to the winding trail of gold receding Rapunzel, and she hurriedly gathered it up in her arms with a huff.

“Maybe that’s it,” Rapunzel wondered aloud. “Maybe he wants our powers. My hair, your ice…”

“Hiccup’s charisma.” Jack rolled his eyes. “Merida’s poise.”

“Dragons and witchcraft! Merida turned her mother into a bear. Hiccup’s got a fleet of dragons at his command. Plus,” Rapunzel continued, thoughts rolling off her tongue, “They’re both royalty. Perhaps he’ll ransom them.”

“Then why all the paintings, the clothes? The gifts? When was the last time you heard of a ransomer giving his captives emerald rings?”

“I…don’t know,” Rapunzel admitted.

“And you won’t ask. So stop talking about it. You’ll drive yourself mad.”

Rapunzel wandered over to the marble bust of some old man with a thin beard, tracing over the details. “There’s nothing else to do. I’ll go mad if I don’t think about it.”

They were at the entrance. Rapunzel looked up at the great wooden doors, thrice the height of a grown man and bolted shut. Just beyond, there could be the sweet smell of flowers, a cool wind, beating sunlight, soft grass. She would never know. Not anytime soon, anyways. The doors were deceivingly strong. The wood was harder than stone, impossible to cut with even a sword. Merida had tried. There was not even a gnash. The arching doors were smooth and impenetrable, framed by marble busts that were set in a ‘U’ around the entrance hall. The grand staircase was in the centre, leading up to the second floor, then the third, then the fourth. There were seven floors, but the highest three were all under lock and key. Rapunzel often wondered what the Master was hiding up there. Jack often remarked that whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“Do you think they’ll let her out soon?” Rapunzel asked, pressing a palm to the cool wood.

Jack shrugged, leaping up and balancing on the marble bust of the old man. The way he soared through the air like a spirit was something Rapunzel never got used to. She eyed him warily as he lifted one foot, swaying precariously on the bald marble head.

Suddenly a great tolling bell rang through the castle. It was so loud and deep that Jack wobbled, slipped and went crashing to the floor. Rapunzel felt it right through her toes and up her spine.

BONG

BONG

BONG

It went on. Rapunzel counted each tolls until the last one resounded and faded into the massive castle.

"Ahh," Jack groaned, rubbing his backside. “Every time!”

Rapunzel extended a hand to him. “Why didn’t you just float off?”

“I forgot to! Geez, it’s not like a natural thing. It takes effort.” Ruefully, Jack took her hand and allowed her to pull him up. His hands were ice.

“Anyways, that was seven rings,” Rapunzel continued, prudently changing topics. “Suppertime. You won’t get fitted until tomorrow. The Master prefers a flat stomach.”

Relief swept over Jack and he relaxed, shoulders dropping. He grinned, surprisingly genuine. “Thank goodness. I’m starving.”

“I thought you didn’t get hungry,” Rapunzel frowned.

“I thought you weren’t so nosy,” Jack deflected with startling defence.

Rapunzel shrank back as the two walked down the main hallway towards the dining room, passing rich drapery and armoured statues. Jack avoided her gaze as he asked her, “Who says I don’t?”

“Umm,” Rapunzel stalled, deciding that the truth was probably best. “Hiccup. We were eating grapes, and he made a comment that you didn't really need to eat because you were…” She trailed off, unsure of how to approach the issue.

“Dead,” Jack supplied ruefully.

“Immortal.”

“Undead.”

“No,” Rapunzel insisted, sensing how hurt Jack was. “You’ve got a heart, you’ve got a soul. You’re a good person, Jack, you care about people. I know you complain about Hiccup, but you care about him. You care about me.”

“You make me sound like a pansy,” Jack complained, but Rapunzel could hear the smile in his voice. “And don’t flatter yourself.”

“It’s not true?” Rapunzel gave him a nudge. “You don’t care about me?”

“You are nosy,” Jack ducked his head, avoiding her.

“It’s just a question!”

“I wonder what’s for dinner. I do like eating. Food is great. Oh man, I hope it’s beef.”

“But you don’t get hungry?” Rapunzel ventured.

“Nah,” said Jack. He smiled. “But that doesn’t stop me.”

The two bantered all the way down the hall with good nature. Rapunzel was happy that the fitting was postponed. The more she learned about Jack, she knew he least could afford a dampened spirit.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Jack held the door open for Rapunzel as she stepped into the dining hall. The room was large and grand, with matte black flooring and rich burgundy drapery. In the centre of the room was a wide oak table decorated with a deep purple tablecloth, seating twelve hand carved chairs with feather stuffed cushions, all empty except for one. A boy with brown hair was seated near the end, so deep in thought he did not even glance towards them. Lit only by the intricate chandelier hung in the centre of the room and the sparse singular candles placed along the table, the eeriness robbed Rapunzel of her appetite. Shadows danced about in the flickering light. The silence was almost reverent, save for the creak of the heavy door as Jack let it close. As it shut with a thud, the brown haired boy straightened up with a jolt.

“Oh,” he said, clutching his cutlery with a death grip, “It’s just you.”

“What do you mean, ‘just’?” Jack sauntered over and took the seat beside Hiccup, leaning back with his bare feet on the table. “I’m Jack Frost. Prince of winter, spirit of ice, bringer of fun times and good memories. I’m kind of a big deal.”

Hiccup sighed, too exhausted to verbally spar. He placed his fork on the empty table with a metallic clink. “Whatever you say.”

Taking her own seat across from the boys, Rapunzel watched Hiccup carefully. There were tired purple marks under his eyes, dark against his tan freckled skin. Something was missing behind his green eyes.

“Did the Master see you today?” she asked carefully, unwrapping her own set of silver cutlery from the burgundy napkin. “You seem…drained.”

Hiccuped laughed tiredly. “Hah. How’d you guess.” Even exhausted, he spoke with a nasal humorous inflection. Picking up a silver goblet and sniffing it’s contents, Hiccup grimaced. “Eugh, wine. Gross.”

He threw his head back and drained the entire thing, gave a full-body shuddered and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Slamming the goblet down, Hiccup let his head thump against the table. He closed his eyes. Jack laughed to hide how nervous the gesture made him. Rapunzel did not bother to disguise her concern. She gently extended a hand to rest in Hiccup’s hair, giving him a half-hearted ruffle.

“C’mon,” she said with encouragement. “Food’s coming. Maybe duck. Or lamb.”

“I’m not gonna eat baby sheep,” Hiccup mumbled, muffled into the tablecloth. “It’s inhumane.”

“Well regardless, you’ll feel better after you eat.”

Hiccup sluggishly raised his head. His eyes were faraway. “Do you think Merida’s getting anything? Are they feeding her?”

“They’ve got to be,” said Jack. “She’s useless if she’s dead. They’re feeding her.”

Hiccup remained silent. Suddenly he reached across the table and plucked Rapunzel’s goblet, swirling the dark cherry contents with a finger. Licked a droplet, made a face. Took a hearty gulp. Swallowed it like poison.

Watching him with feigned amusement, Jack slip his own drink towards Hiccup. “What was it today? A fitting? Portrait?”

Hiccup closed his eyes and shook his head. “Lesson. He thinks I can play a violin. But don’t worry, I sure showed him.” Flexing his hands, Hiccup revealed tiny red marks lashed over his fingertips.

“He wouldn’t let me leave until I finished A minor,” he explained drearily as Rapunzel seized his fingers and examined them with intense concern. The marks weren’t bloody, but angry and painful, the skin worn from constant friction against strings. “After supper, I have to go see someone to- to I don’t know, fix them. Don’t want any scars, nosiree, not this guy. Not this Viking.”

Rapunzel wound a lock of hair around Hiccup’s fingertips. “It’s okay, here. Flower gleam and glow…” As she sang, the hair emitted a glow that seemed to sink into Hiccup’s skin. There was a warm burst, and then it faded. Unwrapping her hair, she revealed Hiccup’s fingers to be smooth and cured, tinted only by a rosy healthiness.

But Hiccup was only slightly relieved. With effort, he offered Rapunzel a lopsided grin and rubbed his fingers. “Thanks. Saved me a hassle.”

Rapunzel smiled back warmly, happy to see some cheer on Hiccup’s face for a change. Especially since Merida had been locked up, it was rare to see him in any state other than constant gloom. At the very beginning, the two had clicked. Both unwilling heirs to a title neither wanted, hailing from cultures that valued ruthlessness and brutality, desperate to be a part of something else. When Hiccup had told Merida that women could be Viking warriors, her eyes had grown wide with amazement. He taught her to fight. She taught him to sew. Together, they survived the castle in their own way.

Now, Hiccup seemed only half of a whole. His will to fight plummeted without Merida’s fiery presence fuelling him. Only his sarcasm really seemed genuine, saturated and dripping in most conversations.

“I hope she’s back soon,” Hiccup mumbled to himself.

Just then the door flung open. Several men and women in simple clothing wordlessly carried hot dishes full of strong smelling food and placed them with precision across the table. Thick soups, bright berries, creamy cheeses, and pink slices of juicy meat. Delicious aromas curled through the air. Rapunzel’s stomach rumbled. “Thank you,” she said to the servants, who showed no sign of having heard her. They left as quickly as they came, all in a single line with movements as practiced as soldiers.

“Don't be so nice to them, they’re on his side,” Jack commented, reaching over and snatching an powdered white wheel of goat cheese with bare hands. He took a bite from it like an apple and chewed thickly. When Rapunzel wrinkled her nose at him, he gave her a mischievous grin and waved the stinky stuff under her nose. “Hungry?”

She recoiled, trying to swallow her annoyance. “Um, I really don’t like cheese.”

Jack shrugged. “Whatever.” He crushed the remaining chunk in his palms and mushed it into his empty plate. With a great sigh, he reached for a slice of meat, folded it in half and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. Chewed it like wet cement in his mouth and gulped it down with a swig of wine. Leaned back and closed his eyes. Rubbed his forehead. It was usually towards the evening that Jack’s mood turned sour.

Rapunzel loaded her own plate with food. When it was full, she dished food onto Hiccup’s plate as well. He took little notice of her, but lifted his own fork and dully picked at the contents. The three ate in silence. Watching Jack shovel food into his mouth with little enjoyment, Rapunzel wondered if he was really trying to ensure that there would be no fitting tonight. The only things he really seemed to enjoy were desserts, but the Master was sparing with those. Jack would have to make do with actual nutrients. The meal was delicious; they always were. But flavours were muted here. Like everything was soaked in water, somehow faded. Bored of her meal halfway through it, Rapunzel pushed her own plate away. She noted that all the meat was cleared from Hiccup’s plate and he was currently picking at vegetables. Figured it was old Viking habit. Nearly ninety percent of Hiccup’s diet was animal based, and he had explained that in his village it was common. She didn’t know how anyone could eat so much protein and stay so thin, but somehow Hiccup managed. Still, Rapunzel wished he ate more vitamins.

Creeeeeaaaak

The creak of the door jolted Rapunzel and she went shock straight up in her chair. Meal times were never interrupted. It could only be the Master. She glanced nervously as Hiccup, who was now sitting at full attention. Jack hardly moved a muscle, already defeated. The mood shifted swiftly as ice over a freezing ocean.

“Hallooo?”

Hiccup’s face lit up..

“Merida!”

The moment Merida's fiery mane of red hair peeked around the door, Rapunzel’s worry melted away. She smiled and ran towards her friend. Hiccup jumped up too, leagues happier. He and Jack ran towards her too, joining Rapunzel’s embrace.

Rapunzel noticed that Merida’s hug was unusually complacent. Normally she squeezed hard enough to bruise ribs. “How are you? Are you alright? What did they do to you?”

“Ooh, nothin’ horrible,” Merida replied, lacking her usual bubbly energy. She pat Rapunzel’s head, stroking her hair. “Just kept me under lock an’ key. Was lonely, but not bad.”

“We missed you,” Hiccup blurted, taking Merida’s hand. Rapunzel noticed the way his cheeks were tinted red. “It wasn’t the same, uh, without you here…I mean, like, it was quiet. Not that you talk a lot, or too much, I mean. You don’t talk too much! I didn’t mean that. It’s just we didn’t feel- it was like-”

“We missed you,” Jack repeated, ending the rambling. Hiccup took a deep breath and wiped his hands on his trousers, chestnut brown and sharply fitted.

A bit confused, Merida nodded and smiled. “An’ I missed you too. I’d love ta chat an’ catch up, but I’m near ‘bout to pass out from hunger.” She pulled up a chair at the table, the others following suit. Rapunzel felt content having Merida beside her once more. In the five weeks of knowing the girl, she had grown very used to Merida’s presence. It was comforting to have it back.

The four chatted and laughed and ate and drank and time seemed to unravel before them. Jack told them more fantastic stories about the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause, Sandman and the Tooth Fairy that hardly seemed real to Rapunzel, and yet somehow she believed them.The latter unnerved Hiccup.

“She steals teeth!” Hiccup protested. “What kind of a person steals teeth? Teeth?! What- what use could they possibly have? That’s creepy.”

And Hiccup talked about his village. East of nowhere, freezing cold most of the year, useless for growing food. “Horrible place, really,” he said, and Rapunzel could see how much Hiccup missed it glistening in his eyes. They were faraway, turned towards the sky. “The first thing I’m doing when we get out of this place is flying. Find Toothless and just go. Up in the clouds, nothing but the wind in my hair. Freezing, stinging wind.”

Jack sighed. “I know how you feel. I miss my staff.” He pressed a palm to the oak table and patterns of ice swirled from his fingertips, evaporating within seconds. “Used to be I could freeze an entire lake, no sweat. Now...it’s a pain just making frost.”

Rapunzel watched the sparkling frost dissolve, enraptured. She loved Jack’s powers. He would fill the hallways with beautiful white spirals and swirls if he was in a good mood. But even she had noticed that he was doing it much less, and was unusually drained if he had. “It’s got to be somewhere,” she nudged him. “You said you had it in your hand when you were swept away here, right?”

“I think so. The wind was so strong, I couldn’t see anything. But yeah, I’m pretty sure I had my staff. I never let it go.” Jack’s fingertips trembled on the diner table. “And I can feel it. It’s here. It’s like electricity, I can feel it in my skin.”

Merida nodded, crunching into an apple. “Well that’s the plan then,” she said, gesturing with the bitten apple. “We find the staff, we freeze that smarmy, no-good, son of a sheepdog right down ta ‘is wee boxer shorts, an’ we’re good as gold walkin’ out the front door.” There was something funny in Merida’s eyes as she explained the idea.

But Hiccup groaned and flopped his head back. “Freeze him? That doesn't sound really…effective.”

Merida gave him a severe look. “Well, we won’t know until we try.”

“Okay, but look where trying got you. A one-way ticket to lockdown. And I’m sorry, but you’re not exactly making it seem like a relaxing time.”

“An’ what do ya mean by that?”

Quelled by a scorching glare from Merida, Hiccup petered out. But Jack cleared his throat. “You’re not the same,” he said cautiously. “You were happier before. Something’s changed. You don’t have fun the way you used to.”

His words struck Merida, and her blue eyes flickered away. “Who says?”

Jack softened his voice. “Hey, I’m just telling you what I’m seeing. You’re tired, worn out…” He trailed off, struggling for words.

Rapunzel brushed a red curl behind Merida’s ear, wanting to comfort her. “Maybe you just need a good rest. It’s almost quiet time, anyways. Maybe for once, you could actually…relax?”

Merida wrinkled her nose. For an hour every evening, they were supposed to read a book or work on a skill in private. Rapunzel never minded it; she was far used to entertaining herself in private. Usually she painted. To Jack’s amusement, Hiccup had gravitated towards sewing. Jack himself was content with sitting in a room by himself, simply touching objects and coating them in frost. But for Merida, the task of sitting in a room in contemplative silence for such a stretch was impossible. Rapunzel had walked by her room once to see the girl cross-legged on the floor and practically buzzing with exuberance, hacking manically at a piece of wood with a steak knife. She had been trying to carve a bear, she later explained.

“I hate it,” Merida pouted as she kicked away from the table. “Like nap time for babies. He won’t even let me shoot my bow. He took my bow.”

“He took my staff,” Jack growled under his breath.

“You all have this- this respect for him!” Merida grew heated as the four walked down the hallways and up the grand staircase, to where their bed chambers were. “Listening to every word he says, like he’s king ‘o the castle or sumthing!” Her words echoed on the stone walls, and Rapunzel was growing nervous about the ears that might be listening. “Even if he is, he has no right! No right at all doing this ta us.”

As they passed a portrait of Merida and Rapunzel wearing twin satin blue gowns and heavy tiaras, Merida sneered. “Look at me! I look such a fool. My hair all slicked down like a wet cat.” In the portrait, the painted Merida was giving a wide-eyed pout that was intended to be petulant, but instead was beautiful and intriguing. Her fiery hair was smooth and shiny and waved past her elbows, a look achieved by special conditioners and hours of styling. Merida had not suffered it quietly.

“You look fine,” Hiccup exclaimed as they passed the painting. “Did you see some of the stuff they put me in? I’d have to find a new village, mine would disown me.”

“But why,” Rapunzel wondered aloud. “Why does he dress us up and treat us like… like royalty?”

"Ask him," Jack said tonelessly.

“Funny.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“You know I won’t.”

“I’ll ask him,” Merida interrupted, her voice threatening. “With my bow and arrow, I’ll ask him.”

Rapunzel let the threat slide past her, not daring to agree aloud. Out of the four, she found that herself was the most quiet, the most passive. Secretly Rapunzel hated it. She admired Merida for her determination and boldness, always speaking her mind and never shying away from a challenge. Rapunzel wondered how one girl could have so much courage.

At the end of the hallway were four identical silver doors, two on each side and directly across from each other. Merida put a hand on the knob of her door and sighed. “I can even feel him pulling me now. Ordering me to sit an’ do absolutely nothing.”

Rapunzel opened the door to her own bedroom, the one beside Merida’s. “It’s not so bad if you find something to occupy yourself with.”

Hiccup’s hand was on the doorknob too, and so was Jack’s. Merida cleared her throat and looked around. “So, three o’clock? Who’s room?” she whispered.

“Mine,” Jack mumbled.  
  
“Perfect.” She smiled and stepped into her room. “I have surprise,” Merida whispered just loud enough for Rapunzel to hear. Then she closed the door behind her.

Unable to resist the internal pull any longer, Rapunzel stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. The room was luxurious and filled with soft pinks and whites. A massive bed was in the centre of the room, overflowing with fluffy pillows and bedsheets, a canopy stretching overhead with sheaths of translucent white draped overhead. The floor was richly carpeted, the walls white marble. A fireplace crackled in the wall, next to it a pretty armchair and end table. There was an easel and set of paints in one corner. Several blank canvases were stacked beside it, and Rapunzel yearned to fill each one with swirling colour.

She picked up a thick brush and dipped it in a jewel red pot. Even if she was just following orders, she didn’t mind this time alone. It reminded her of her tower. As she dragged her brush across the canvas, streaking red, she missed her mother. The feeling was so strong it ached. But painting helped take her mind away from it, so Rapunzel furrowed her brow and focused on the canvas.

After the quiet hour it was time to clean up and dress for bed. But during the moments supposedly for drifting off to sleep, Rapunzel’s green eyes remain fixated at the canopy above her. Her fingers jittered. Even as her eyelids grew heavy, she screwed them open. Pinching herself sharply whenever the sleepiness became too much, Rapunzel was determined to stay away. Three o’clock isn’t so far away, she convinced herself.

The secret nighttime meetings had begun within the the second week, with Merida sneaking into Rapunzel’s room and shaking her away. Can’t sleep, she’d whispered. Rapunzel and Merida had spent until sunrise talking and plotting and fantasizing about life outside the castle. Never in her life had Rapunzel ever felt so free. She had never talked this way to anyone her age before. She had never met anyone her age before, period. It was exhilarating. Rapunzel felt as though they would never run out of things to talk about, and more than often it was the morning sunrise that cut the visits short. Eventually, they let the boys in on their visits, when Hiccup expressed veiled jealousy one evening. Nighttime proved to be much nicer when spent with three others, Rapunzel found. Even if she was used to sleeping alone, she didn’t like it so much here.

But she knew the others would sneak right into Jack’s room. No detours for fear of being caught. If Rapunzel fell asleep now, the others wouldn’t dare to step back out to get her and she’d sleep until the morning clock tolled seven. “C’mon, Rapunzel,” she whispered to herself. “Just a little longer.”

Her eyelids grew heavier like weights were pulling down on them, and Rapunzel realized she must have nodded off with a jolt as she checked the clock. Three thirty?! Oh no. With a flourish she threw the covers to the ground and leapt out of bed. Hastily fix in her nightgown, Rapunzel caught a glimpse of herself in the oval silver mirror resting against the wall, as tall as herself. Ugh, my hair is a mess. No time! No time, Rapunzel, fix it later.

With yellow strands sticking out of her braid like straw and the pale pink gown loose around her ankles, Rapunzel took the door handle and pressed it up. She slipped into the hallway, pitch black during night hours. Fumbling to find Jack’s room, she wondered what surprise Merida could possibly have to share with them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, another chapter?! Thank you so much for reading, please leave a kudos or review if you're enjoyed! 
> 
> Have a lovely day!


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